Great interview Herbert. The young bloke is certainly growing on me and I am looking forward to seeing what he does this year.

All the best to you Sam.
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Thank you for interviewing him. Very refreshing on the Tri scene!!

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Nice work Herbert. One of your finest interviews IMO.

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Kiwami Racing Team

You are a funny man

Not really

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Kiwami Racing Team

Me neither

Hey,

First off, Thanks Herbert for writing this interview up.

This may take this feed in another direction but I want everyone's opinion. Here's the gist of it:

--Going into 2022 my socials and YouTube will be going in a different direction.
--I've started from scratch in terms of who/how I'm getting the content acquired. I will keep my authenticity and rawness but hope to add more consistent posting with a higher production value.
--With this in mind, what would you like to see? How much frequency do you like in YouTube videos?
--What should remain the same and what should change?
--Finally, what in general is missing in triathlon from a content standpoint. Who is your favorite person to follow and why?

Thanks, everyone and looking forward to hearing your thoughts. As well as updating you on the progress of this journey!

Sam

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Sam Long
AKA The BigUnit
IG: @samgolong

Sam,

Thanks for asking us STs for feedback.

I think that the 'gold standard' for quality of production & content is Lionel/Talbot. First, the quality of the production (sound, music, video, shot values) is the best and maintains viewer attention. Second, the variety of content is attractive - life, training, race reports (pre- & post-), 'what goes on in my life as a professional triathlete', 'what am I thinking' is compelling for AGs to watch. AGs may never attain 7x10min @ 380W but it's fun periodically to see your triathlon heros do this. I think that consistency is more important than frequency. I think most would say "I'd like to see a video every week" but the reality is you are busy as a professional and may not have time for that so every other week may be the best spot for you and your fans. The pre-race/post-race is a matter of having someone follow you during those times and giving fans the glimpse into what you deal with when racing. I think that you do a lot of this already so I don't think that you need to change that much but I don't demand much from professionals either. It's just a joy when I get to see a sliver of what you have to navigate as a pro.

Have a great 2022,
Bart

I'll be keen to see more! I confess I was a little bit put off by some of the yoyoyo stuff - which was overamplified by a few fans. However, take no notice because
a) I'm a grumpy old sod and
b) the quality of your videos, and your self-analysis and goal setting would make up for almost any amount of chest-beating on your behalf.

In regards - frequent, but not so much it affects your racing.
People I follow religiously - Blummenfelt/Iden but must confess I spend more time watching XC skiiers like Klaebo

I have no basis in saying this, but I think trying to adapt your content to what people "want" might not help. I believe people watch you for authenticity, ambition, and crash through or crash hardness. Being yourself has worked pretty damn well so far.

But jeez.. Big Unit... I haven't weighed under 200 for 20 years and I'm only an inch or so taller...

I think consistency is huge. I think the variety you are putting out is already good and different enough to keep it interesting and unique compared to the other 100 triathletes out there trying to do the same.

For production value and consistency, I think Eric and Paula nail it. They consistently put out material - even on weeks when they don't have a lot or just do a quick chat at the table. You can count on something almost every week. They do miss weeks or purposefully take breaks, but they usually post a message to that effect so it's not unexpected. Not that it has to be weekly, but the consistency I like.

Actually, another great example of production value and consistency are Jenna & Miguel - Freestyle Tri.

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

the only thing i would add, in general, and this isn't necessarily specific to you, but i think there's a kind of endurance sport social media that's sport specific, and i find that interesting. just when we oldsters (and some youngsters) have come around to acknowledging the value of social media - twitter, FB, IG - the definition of social media to an endurance racer has changed a bit. so, yes, as some here have come to see it, lionel's outreach is best-of-class, but it's not just his youtube channel. i would say that zwift, zwift + discord, STRAVA, and this forum and any other reader forum like it, these are all sport-specific social channels.

lionel and jan each of at least 30,000 followers on zwift and lucy is not far behind. while only maybe 1-in-3 identify as triathletes jan and lionel are the two most followed zwifters. i'm pretty sure your two recent sponsor pickups, DT swiss and trek, would find value in that kind of following. in fact, in the old days you could draw a straight line between race results and who gets paid the most money. today, i think the best likely indicator of who gets paid the most money (at least in triathlon, men and women) is who has the most zwift followers. i don't know why that is, for sure, i just suspect that correlation is very high.

maybe zwift isn't your thing. maybe fulgaz or rouvy is your thing. do your deal with ironman and part of that deal is becoming the king of fulgaz. i don't know how phil gaimon earns his money, but i don't think it's as an IG influencer. i think he sagely monetized STRAVA. in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get that cash only via a bankshot; it wouldn't shock me if STRAVA just wrote him checks themselves.

my point is, i'm the very last guy you should be taking any advice from on social outreach, but i do think endurance sport has generated a dozen or more endemic social platforms that are every bit as monetizable as FB, YT, twitter or IG and whether you recognize it or not you've already benefited from some of them. i think you're an ideal candidate to prosecute your case using of these less-traditional, sport-specific platforms.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Sam -

Huge fan and appreciate you asking our advice. Like others have said, take everything with a grain of salt. I'm replying because I'm already a fan, so you've got me already.

That said, a few thoughts:
- I wouldn't kill yourself over production quality. TTL prob best production, though Talbot and Kenny are great as well. But way more important is authentic content. I'd take authentic and interesting over production that looks like it is from Hollywood.
- Along the lines of authenticity, you've replied to people on FB/IG - myself included! That is cool. Makes me feel more connected and, again, that what you express is authentic you. That may not be feasible as you continue to grow in popularity/followers, but just saying to underscore the authenticity point.
- I like your current content on training. Love the race recaps - hearing your perspective about race after watching it is cool. I'd love to see any insights as you've learned more in triathlon. Could be about technique, equipment, etc. Good opportunity to show off sponsors if the latter (a few sponsored posts are fine as long as that isn't all it is).
- I appreciate personal type content - day in the life, meals, you having fun, etc.
- More specific to me... I love seeing things related to you being tall. I'm your height. 42 and 200 lbs, so 'slightly' different build lol. But cool to see how that all works for you - equipment/tri suit sizing, different run cadence compared to other athletes, etc. So that is great.

Anyway, few thoughts of the top of my head. Look forward to following you whichever direction you take and best of luck in what is sure to be an awesome season!
Dan

We have all seen people swim and ride bikes.. even with nice music, that stuff is fun but anything that makes us know more about you is better. thoughts on other pros, race analysis, training volumes, what you are doing in your personal life, really anything. like the guy said above you do well because you post and post authentic crap, it could be just short clips, just do you and stay active with your fans, at races walk around and take pictures and post social media crap and you will naturally kill it. dont overthink this. I know you took second in worlds and you are amazing, but there are a bunch of guys about as fast as you in the world, I guarantee you will make more money than almost all of them because you are more fun to follow. yo yo yo it up talk smack be funny race random people ignore the trolls have a thick skin, and make money! look at where that took Sam long to date....

Sam, can you do a video with Sweat Elite?

Interactions with other PROs. One video a week would be good.



Keep the humor. Go back to being a pain in the ass and busting other people's balls. Don't worry about what people think, i.e. being seen as "arrogant", etc., as long as you're being authentic and funny. (This is advice from me as a "consumer", I have no idea if it's a good idea commercially, but I suspect it might be).



Actual rivalries and beefs (between people on a similar level who don't seem like each other very much - like the Holly Lawrence vs. Ellie Salthouse thing, remember how much attention it drew? That was fun).

Your duel with Lionel in St. George was super cool and exciting, but even it would gain even more from some hostility. (Yes I know how this sounds. Like I'm a dick. I won't take a position on that). Still it was the best thing I saw in long course triathlon in 2021. Gustav or Kristian smashing fields doesn't come close to it in terms of entertainment value.

The Lionel vs. Jan "rivalry", aside from Lionel being a fan of Jan (nothing wrong with that), was utter BS, not just because the race was never going to be close, but because it had been set up months in advance but sold like a spontaneous duel.



Honestly, it's you - because the videos are entertaining AF and because of the candidness, no sugarcoating stuff, etc. Not to be negative, but a few other PROs release high production quality videos that attract nothing but yawns from me. You know, the picture-perfect image of a hard working professional who, you might be inclined to think, doesn't ever struggle with anything, what I eat in a day type of stuff and endless sponsor plugs. Ugh.

I also like videos from Lionel, Murray & Klamer, and Lagerstrom & Findley. More recently - Joe Skipper, however the reason I started watching his videos is the Triathlon Mockery podcast with Tom Oosterdijk (a must-listen for people familiar with triathlon who like to laugh).

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Wow, he just announced Asics as a shoe sponsor. Great news and good to see he's advancing financially as well. I'm going to see if his run time will improve wearing them. I know he's been using Next% most of the time.

Continue to do you and don't try to be someone else on camera. Be authentic, be genuine, and be honest (all things you currently do). As far as recommendations, I have two things: First, each video should have a purpose. Tell a story and make sure you are getting that point across to the audience succinctly. Think of each video as a powerpoint presentation to a CEO of company where you are proposing an idea. Second, talk about things that pros are afraid to or won't talk about publicly. People want to know those things.

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blog